Visitors Guide: Sports and Recreation

It’s about the water here in Paradise. If you’re not sailing, paddling, cruising, fishing, swimming in it or staring at it from your cabana, deck or balcony, you must be parasailing or kiteboarding above it or jogging, strolling or cycling beside it.

There are water hazards on the golf courses, adventure parks with seriously exciting waterslides and waves, dark and mysterious creeks and passages heading into the Ten Thousand Islands, and long stretches of the Intracoastal Waterway, which winds 3,000 miles from the north Atlantic coast and around the Gulf of Mexico all the way to Texas.

There’s an outfitter to take you anywhere you want to go, on a private charter or group tour, by kayak or canoe, double-decker boat or offshore fishing boat. You can take a sightseeing, sunset, lunch, dinner or shelling cruise. You can tag along with naturalists studying our coastal colony of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, or book a helicopter flight to watch the sun set over the Gulf. Want to take to the water on your own? Everything you could possibly need is available, from the boat and equipment right down to a gourmet picnic.

Our Fort Myers Miracle minor league baseball team plays from April to September, and Fort Myers is the spring training home of both the Boston Red Sox and the Minnesota Twins. Our professional hockey team, the Everblades, plays from October to April, and when they’re not on the ice, there’s recreational ice-skating and lessons. In Naples, the beautifully designed Arthur L. Allen Tennis Center in Cambier Park is ranked among the top public tennis facilities in the United States.

Bonita Boat Rentals, 26395 Hickory Blvd., (239) 992-2137. Twenty-two-foot pontoon boats for rent. Choose either 35-horsepower with seating for up to 10 passengers or 50-horsepower with seating for up to 12 passengers. Rates start at $75 for two-hour charter up to $215 for a full day. www.bonitabr.com.

Gateway Golf and Country Club, 11360 Championship Drive, (239) 561-1036. Host of the GolfWeek-sanctioned Gateway Senior Invitational senior amateur event in January 2010. www.gatewaygolf.com.
Golfview Golf and Racquet Club, 14849 Hole-in-One Circle, (239) 489-2264. The low-handicap golfer may opt to drive across the 4.5-acre lake on four holes, while the less skilled can stay inland with shorter tee shots. www.golfview-grc.com.

Heritage Palms Country Club, 10420 Washingtonia Palm Way, (239) 278-9090. Two 18-hole championship courses. Voted Lee County’s No. 1 Country Club for Golf Course and Restaurant three years by subscribers of The News-Press in Fort Myers. www.heritagepalmscountryclub.com.

Hideaway Country Club, 5670 Trailwinds Drive, (239) 275-5581. An 18-hole, par-67, Presidential-length, 5,002-yard course. Open to the public in summer. www.thehideawaygolf.com.

Lexington Country Club, 16257 Willow Crest Way, (239) 437-3380. Water hazards come into play on 17 holes. There are also 88 sand bunkers on the course. www.lexingtoncountryclub.com.
San Carlos Golf Club, 7420 Constitution Circle, San Carlos Park, (239) 267-3131. An 18-hole, semi-private course. Practice facilities include an aqua driving range, pitching and chipping area, practice bunker and a large putting green. www.sancarlosgolfclub.com.